Communication terminals, such as aerial communication devices that operate at high altitudes, may transmit and receive optical signals through free space optical links. Density of the air, wind speeds, air pressure, and turbulence may cause air scintillation across optical links to fluctuate. Optical fading (e.g., air scintillation) may perturb one or more of the optical signals communicated between the communication terminals. For instance, an optical fade may cause a received signal strength of an optical signal at a receiving one of the communication terminals to drop below a detection threshold. As a result, optical link loss may occur and data included in the optical signals may not be received by the receiving communication terminal or partially received by the receiving communication terminal. Moreover, the clock may also be lost due to missing or noisy transitions in the incoming data stream included in the optical signals. While the transmitting terminal likely stores the lost data in a buffer waiting for retransmission, a clock and data recovery circuit (CDR) at the receiving terminal typically requires a long acquisition time for clock and data recovery after the atmospheric channel comes out of the fade. Generally, longer CDR acquisition times reduce data transmission windows over the available optical link once the atmospheric channel comes out of the fade.